


Searching, Accidentally Finding

by Anasten27



Series: Of Windy Days at the Ocean [16]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: F/M, Friendship, and this is still one-sided, being a pirate is fun!, chirithy does whatever he wants, this is a mess of a fic, ventus is still a nervous wreck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-26
Updated: 2019-11-26
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:13:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21572791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anasten27/pseuds/Anasten27
Summary: Ventus has been out exploring the worlds for a while now, in search of his new dream. Due to some disagreements with Chirithy, something Ven has been keeping secret comes out to the light.
Relationships: Aqua & Terra & Ventus (Kingdom Hearts), Chirithy & Ventus (Kingdom Hearts), Kairi/Ventus (Kingdom Hearts)
Series: Of Windy Days at the Ocean [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1314263
Comments: 4
Kudos: 29





	Searching, Accidentally Finding

**Author's Note:**

> IMPORTANT, PLEASE READ BELLOW:  
> Hi! If this is your first encounter with this series please DO NOT READ THIS YET. This is a turning point in the story and it wont have the same impact as if you've read the rest.  
> Why didn't I make this one big fic then? Good question. I'm dumb. No, I'm kidding, I just started this as a oneshot and it got out of hand, but most parts can be read on their own (and there are big time gaps between them).  
> What's that? You don't care about reading the rest? That's fine, go ahead, be my guest and read anyways.
> 
> Anyways, thanks again to my awesome beta Taliax for all her screaming!
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

It had been over four months since Ven had decided to leave home. He had been exploring worlds, both old and new ones, and visiting friends. He stayed with some of them for a few days, restocking provisions and gathering energy before jumping to another world again.

The first day had been the hardest one. He was finally actually leaving home, not because he was chasing anyone or because he was looking to make friends, but because he was looking for himself, looking for his real dream... Not to mention his gummiphone had been bombarded with messages and calls from his two best friends all day.

He probably shouldn't have left such a cryptic note and disappeared just like that...

After they knew he was fine—and thoroughly chastised him for the way he had left them—they wished him luck and told him to take care of himself.

He went to visit the Enchanted Dominion first, since the last time he had been there he hadn't had much time to look around or admire the palace. When he arrived he ran into the three good fairies and they introduced him to the princess telling her about how he had helped to get her heart back all those years ago.

They had invited him to stay in the castle, but he politely refused, saying he wanted to explore the rest of the kingdom and maybe part of the forest as well. They had wished him well and let him go.

After a couple days of staying in that world he left to go visit Cinderella and Jack over at the Castle of Dreams. When he got to her house though—in his normal stature, mind you, and not as the size of a mouse—he was surprised to hear that she actually lived at the castle now.

When they finally met again Cinderella was delighted by his visit. She was so excited to show him around that he couldn't really help but indulge his friend. He had a great time at the castle getting a tour by the Queen herself.

He visited Peter Pan and Tinkerbell. Ven was sad to hear that his old wooden keyblade had been broken, but it had been a long time ago and at least he kept the memory of it in his heart. Getting to fly over the clouds without his glider with them had been amazing, a different kind of freedom he hadn’t known before.

Olympus Coliseum, the Dwarf Woodlands and Disney Town were the places he went to next. After all of those visits and meeting up with old friends he decided to go to worlds his heart knew, but that he hadn't seen before.

He met Jack Skellington and Sally at Halloween Town, met Mulan and Mushu at The Land of Dragons, Simba and Nala on Pride Lands, Rapunzel and Flynn at the Kingdom of Corona, Mike and Sully at Monstropolis, Aladdin and Jasmine in Agrabah, and so many other incredible people. Though it didn’t quite feel like a first time meeting, but more of a reencounter for him.

He wasn't always traveling though. Sometimes he came back home for a small break, he missed Aqua's cooking and Terra's stories, and don't even get him started on his beautifully comfortable bed. After a day or two at home, he'd go back out into another adventure.

He learned so many things, explored so many places and experienced so many wonderful things! and yet… he still didn't feel like he had found what he was looking for.

It was in quiet moments, at nights of looking up at the same familiar stars no matter where he was and dawns of waiting for the world to slowly wake up, that he wondered if he'd ever find his true dream at all.

The sea was the only thing he could hear for the past week and don't get him wrong, he loved to play at the beach and splash in the ocean, but he was the tiniest bit tired of it. Not to mention he felt slightly dizzy with the floor constantly moving under him, swaying under the constant push and pull of the waves.

Maybe coming to the Caribbean was not the best idea he's ever had, but he did say he wanted to explore everywhere he could.

The sun was rising, but Ventus certainly wasn't. He had been accepted to come along in The Black Pearl as long as he made himself useful, so he had been left on mopping duty for the time being.

He wished he had something more fun to do. 

He had shown the captain that he was a good sword fighter, which had been impressive enough for the man, but since Ven wasn't really a sailor all he could do while they weren't being attacked was clean around the ship.

His days had been pretty dull that week, but the nights were kinda fun. He listened to the sailors' stories, about far away lands full of gorgeous sights and many beautiful women, about fights with enormous creatures at sea, about different interesting people they had met—and some they had killed. He watched them play and gamble, sing and dance.

He didn't join them in their activities though, staying on the sidelines to watch them from afar. He didn't really feel like he belonged.

So Ven snored softly on his borrowed hammock as the rest of the crew members left towards deck. The night before had been particularly busy for him; the men had decided to do some drinking games and it hadn't ended pretty.

Chirithy sat beneath him in his bag on the floor and rummaged through the things inside it with his little paws.

Not long after everyone left the place, someone came down to wake him up.

"Get up, lad, we don't got all day to wait for you!" A voice exclaimed from the base of the stairs.

Ven, startled awake, flailed on his makeshift bed and fell off, hitting his side on the hard wood. Once he recognized his surroundings and who was addressing him he sat up rubbing his side.

"Aye aye, Captain Jack." He mumbled, still half asleep.

"That's Cap—" he paused. "No wait, you got it right." The man turned around and walked back up the stairs. "Come on now, Viento, we're boarding a ship in five minutes and you ain't getting no part of the loot if you don't come!"

"We're doing what now?" Ven stood up, only to fall back down as the ship shook with the fire of a cannon.

"Clear the deck!" Jack shouted over the commotion. "All to starboard!"

Ven scrambled to his feet, almost tripping on the way, and ran outside.

It was a chaotic sight. Men yelled and screamed instructions at each other, while some ran from one side of the ship to the other. Many had taken out their weapons, ranging from sabers to guns and even grenados, getting ready for battle in case the others didn't surrender right away.

He looked up at their enemy flag. It looked to be another pirate ship; they probably wouldn't go down so easily.

More cannons were fired, but he managed to stay on his feet this time. Summoning his keyblade, he ran to the edge of the vessel. The enemy was right across them and some people were trying to get to the other side using grappling hooks and rope.

Between all the noise and confusion his mind went blank, all rational thoughts replaced by instinct alone.

He stepped back, took a running start and leapt off the side of The Black Pearl, casting a powerful Tornado spell behind him, helping him reach the other ship instead of falling down to the ocean between them.

He rolled to his feet once he hit the enemy deck and the people around him that had seen him arrive stumbled back, their eyes wide and confusion etched on their features.

High on adrenaline he raised his blade in the air and exclaimed, "Thunder!". As soon as the word left his mouth there was a moment where the air around them charged and crackled with energy before lighting fell from above, hitting some of the men in front of him and leaving them twitching on the ground while the rest of them screamed and ran away.

Between their shouting and howling he barely made out the words "help" and "demon", but didn't pay them much attention as he went to take care of the crew members cutting the ropes his temporary teammates flung their way.

With a quick Gravira he easily dragged the men away long enough for the others to board the ship.

His comrades stared for a moment as they passed him by, but soon went back into the action, fighting anyone that dared cross their path.

Ven didn't wait long to go pick up someone to fight either.

He wasn't sure how long the chaos went on for, he just knew that at some point he heard his name being called from the quarterdeck. When he looked up he could see Jack engaged in battle with someone who looked to be the captain of this ship; his hat certainly seemed bigger and fancier than any other accessories the rest of the men had.

"Ven! Come smartly run a rig on this man!" 

"What?" Ven frowned as he blocked a guy's attack and pushed him away.

Jack grunted, almost exasperated. "Come do some of your flashy key magic over here!"

"Ah! Got it!" He nodded, jumped back and focused a shotlock on the man. It wasn't as powerful as he would've liked, but that was to be expected when your target moved around so much.

Once completely charged he practically soared through the air towards the captain, his Keyblade enveloped in wind. Once he was right in front of him, he spinned and attacked one, two, and three times with the help of the strong air currents surrounding him and keeping him above the ground.

He felt his magic depleting, so he finished by summoning a whirlwind around him that expanded outwards, pushing away not only the captain, but Jack as well, both falling to the ground.

The magic dissipated and Ven floated back down, quickly helping his captain up to his feet.

Jack wasted no time in pointing his sword at the man's throat and kicking the man’s weapon away.

"Me men were right, ye got a demon in yer crew," the man spat from the floor.

"A demon?" Jack looked back to the blond boy confused. "This lad's got the face of an angel!" He passed an arm over Ven's shoulder, ruffling his hair. "He's even got perfect teeth and all! Go on, smile and show him."

Ven couldn't help but laugh amused.

"See?" He patted him on the back before letting him go and leaning down closer to the man. "Now, how about you tell your mates to stop fighting and maybe we'll let you go after we're done here?"

"And don't forget the rum! Is that all? Aye then, back to the Pearl!" Jack instructed as he took a swig from a bottle. "Set course to Tortuga!"

Ven walked towards the port side of the ship, but paused in front of the tied up men sitting on deck. Now that everything was calmer he felt kind of bad for beating these people up and using so much magic in front of and on them.

He scratched the back of his neck and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to hit you guys so hard... Especially you, sir captain..." He looked over at the man in the middle of them all, an angry frown on his face as he looked up at Ven, his head bare without his hat. "And, well, I guess sorry for taking your stuff too. But, uh… pirates, am I right?"

Most of the crew scowled or looked at him weird.

His smile fell. He just felt kind of awkward, so without anything else to say he turned to leave. He ran and used the same trick he had earlier, jumping over the gap between ships with a boost of magic.

When he set foot back on the Black Pearl he was immediately received by Jack, who shoved a hat on his head, covering his eyes. Ven lifted the front up to look at the captain who had a pleased expression, even in his drunken state.

"I knew you'd be useful from the moment I met you. You really did a number on those guys, you deserve a little token for your efforts."

Ven beamed with pride. "Thank you, Captain!"

Jack patted his shoulder and walked away.

Ven took off his new hat. His eyes widened when he realized who it had belonged to; it was the enemy ship's captain's hat. Aside from some golden decorations, the most eye-catching thing on it was a big purple feather sticking out from the back.

This was so amazing! He had to tell someone! He trotted towards the stairs to the lower deck to get his bag, but stopped in his tracks when he heard a man groaning in pain. He looked around and saw one of the crew men was sitting down against the main mast, pressing his hand to his side, with one of his mates trying to look at the wound.

He walked over and knelt down next to them.

"What happened?"

"Nothing much, he just got stabbed is all." The man shrugged. "Just need to patch it up."

"I think I can help with that." He said and extended a hand towards the wound. "May I?"

The bleeding man hesitated, but lifted his hand off the wound. Ven hovered over the spot and cast Cure by murmuring “heal” under his breath.

And just like that, the pain was gone so fast that the man was confused and amazed by how easy that had been. He did a double take on his side, the blood still staining his hand and clothes, but the wound had completely disappeared, only leaving a faint scar behind.

Ven smiled and stood up.

"Wait!" The recently healed man extended a hand in his direction, stopping him from walking away. "Could you... do that again? For some other folks that got hurt."

He paused for a moment, sending a look to the stairs that led below deck. Finally, he looked back and nodded. "Sure! Take me to them."

Saying he was tired would've been an understatement; he was completely and utterly exhausted. Oh, how he missed his bed right now.

He had spent a good hour going around the ship healing the crew. It had only been the most injured ones at first, but then he started healing the ones that barely had a scratch because the rest had spread the word on how nice the spell felt, and how all the aches and pains they had were taken away. Needless to say, he wasn't the best at saying no...

Sadly, there was no way he'd be able to join the men on their night activities this time, even if many people had invited him.

When he got down to the berth, he climbed on his hammock and sighed.

"Chirithy?" He reached a hand out, letting it hang from the side as he blindly tried to find his dream eater.

"Yeah?" The furry creature took his hand between his paws.

"Can you pass me my gummiphone? I promised Terra I'd call him and I wanna do it before I pass out."

Chirithy rummaged through the bag. "Here you go." He held up the device.

"Thanks." 

Ven tapped a few things on the screen, cringing at how bright it was compared to the dim lighting down there, and called his best friend. It didn't take too long before the call was picked up at the other end.

"Hello? Ven?"

"Hi, Terra." He smiled and closed his eyes. "How are you?"

"Doing good. Finished helping Aqua with the dishes."

"That's nice. How's she doing?"

"Actually… I wanted to talk to you about that." There was a pause and the sound of a door closing. His voice was quieter when he continued. "She knows as well as I do how important it is for you to travel on your own, learn new things and everything, but she's been a little emotional lately and misses you a lot, so I wanted to ask you to come visit soon if you can, just so her mind can be at ease and she knows that you're okay."

"Of course! I'll leave this world in a…” he tried to do some simple math in his head. “Couple of days, probably. I'll go visit you guys then." Ven yawned.

"Okay, thanks.” Terra chuckled. “I'm guessing it's been a long day?"

"Yeah, busy day." He nodded, even if Terra couldn't see it. "I helped, uh... defend the ship from some other pirates." He lied, hoping he wouldn’t question him further on that regard.

"That's awesome, hope you can tell me more about it when you come!"

He winced silently. "Sure..."

"Alright, I'll let you go now. Don't wanna keep you up much longer."

"Okay, goodnight!"

"I'm glad to know you're okay. Be careful and take care." Terra said softly and hung up.

Ven sighed, handed his phone back to his dream eater and covered his eyes with his arm. Cheers could be heard coming from the main deck and (he wasn't sure, but it wasn't impossible) some glass breaking in the distance.

He got as comfortable as he could on his hammock, ready to go to sleep, when something buzzed near him.

Chirithy poked his face and he popped open one eye to see his dream eater holding his phone with a message notification on the screen.

He sat up, his exhaustion forgotten for a moment as he unlocked the phone.

"Am I not getting a picture today? u-u  
I was so looking forward to it!  
Too busy being a pirate? ;)"

He quickly tried to type back a response, almost dropping his phone in the process.

"Sorry! I wss going to send you somthing, but I got caught up healing somw crew members  
We fought anotjer ship today!  
Oops, those are a lot of typos..."

"Haha! That's okay! X)  
Sounds like you had an interesting day!"

"Yeah, you could say that…"

He smiled at his phone, happy to talk to Kairi even if he was ready to pass out at any given moment.

He shook his head, the motion rocking the hammock he was on, remembering what the initial question was. "Right! Let me see if I've got any pictures!"

"You really don't need to send me one every time, I have fun just talking."

"Still, I think it's kind of tradition by now.  
Just hold on a second  
I swear I'll find something!"

He finished typing and proceeded to look through his gallery. There weren't many recent pictures. There was really so much sea you could photograph during the day; the scenery didn't really change much out here. There wasn't anything too interesting on his older pictures that he hadn't sent her already.

He looked around the mildly lit room and shrugged. An ugly photo was still better than nothing.

He held up his phone, stuck out his tongue and took a quick picture. He looked horrendous, to say the least, with his shabby pirate clothes and his hair all dirty and messy. He sent it, hoping she'd find it funny enough.

"Betcha I'd win a beauty contest right now"

"You would not X)" she replied.

He snickered at that, but feigned sadness at her response.

":(  
You have no faith in me"

"And you have way too much faith  
You look like a mess! XD"

She was right, but still.

"Wow, thanks."

"You're welcome ;)"

"U r so mean  
Im leaving this conversation."

"You know I'm joking!"

"I can't hear u, I'm sleeping"

"Nooo  
Come on, Ven!"

"Zzzzzzzzzzz..."

":,/  
I'm sorry! Come back!"

He almost laughed, but continued typing.

"Im awake again  
What did I miss?"

Chirithy climbed up on the hammock, sat down on Ven's stomach and peered around his gummiphone.

"Weren't you going to bed?" He asked.

"Huh? Yeah, I was..." Ven mumbled.

"So? What’s keeping you up?"

"I couldn't pass up an opportunity to talk to an angel." He winked and smiled sleepily.

"Well isn't it one in the morning over there? Why is _she_ still awake?" Chirithy tilted his head slightly.

Ven hummed. "Good question."

He typed up the same inquiry.  
"Why aren't you asleep? It's super late there, right?"

It took about a minute for her to respond.

"Yeah, I can't sleep...  
But I wanted to hear more about your adventures and all! I heard the Caribbean is really pretty."

"It's got its views, but I've mostly seen plain ocean.  
Is everything okay, though? Did you have a nightmare?"

"No, don't worry. I took a nap earlier and now I'm just not tired enough.  
Bad idea, don't try it."

"I'm the king of naps. No nap can ever defeat my sleep for as long as I live."

"Give me some of your power please T-T"

"I definitely would if I knew how to.  
Sorry :("

"That's alright, guess I'll just stay here until I fall asleep."

"Are you calling me boring? >:O"

"Nooo! That's not what I meant! XD  
I just figured since you're still awake maybe we could keep chatting."

"Sounds like a good plan!" An idea popped into his head and he continued.  
"Would it be cool to call you then? Just in case I accidentally pass out, so you can know when that happens instead of waiting for me to reply for an hour or something..."

"Hmm... I'd have to keep my voice low, my dad would not be happy if I woke him up at this hour, but I think it could work!"

"Okay then! Give me a second."

Tapping some buttons on his phone, he found himself staring at the call button. He took a deep breath, exhaled slowly and pressed it.

It didn't get the chance to ring more than once before she picked up.

"Hi!" Her soft voice came from the other end.

"Hello." He kept his tone steady, willing himself to not let it show how weak just the sound of her made him feel. "Long time no talk! How are you?"

He heard her stifle a laugh. "I'm doing good, how about you?"

"Great! Hey, you know, I was just speaking to a friend of mine and she said she hasn't gone to bed yet and it's like one in the morning over there. Can you believe that? So irresponsible of her!"

This time she did laugh and he couldn't help but smile.

"Stop!" She dragged the word out, getting interrupted by her own giggles. "My dad will wake up and he's gonna be so mad at you!"

"No, don't turn the blame on me! You're the one who's laughing!" He chuckled.

"Fine, fine." She finally calmed down. "So? What does being a pirate feel like?"

"Disgusting, I haven't bathed in a week."

"You're kidding!"

"Where am I gonna bathe? In the ocean? We only have enough water for cooking and drinking, we can't waste it on things like personal hygiene."

"Ew!"

"I think you should be grateful this thing only lets sound through and not smell, I stink so bad!"

He heard a muffled sound before she spoke again.

"Are you trying to make me laugh on purpose?"

"Who? Me? Now why would I do such a thing?" He feigned innocence. "Do you really believe I'd be so mean to you knowing your father's asleep?"

"Yeah, I do think you'd do that."

"Wow, okay, I see how it is."

"Well are you going to tell me anything else about what you've done besides having a very poor hygiene?"

"Alright, alright... do you wanna hear about how I kicked an enemy captain's butt?"

"Oh! That sounds like fun! Please do tell me about it!"

They stayed up for way too long. Aqua would most definitely be disappointed in him if she knew how late he had gone to bed. In his defense... Kairi actually stayed up even later than him because of the time difference.

She had school later that day and had assured him that she would be dead in class and Riku would kill her a second time for being so irresponsible.

They shifted the blame around for their situation until they decided that they both were guilty. After that they said goodbye and good luck with staying awake during the rest of the day.

They had fun!

Ven didn't know how much sleep he managed to get either, but it definitely wasn't enough.

The morning after was a nightmare for both of them, but the time they spent talking the night before was truly worth the pain.

"What do you mean you're going away? I had big plans for getting us more riches with your help! With all your magic thingies you do we were going to catch some big fish out there! They'd stand no chance!" Captain Jack Sparrow exclaimed incredulously.

"Sorry, but I really need to go home. I haven't seen my family in a couple weeks." Ventus shrugged and adjusted his backpack on his shoulder.

"Are you certain they can't wait a few more weeks?"

"I am, Captain." He nodded. "Maybe I'll come back to visit soon!"

"I sure hope so, lad, I see bright things in your future if you come back to the Pearl—gold and jewels and treasures of every kind!"

Ven laughed. Of course that's what Jack would think about. With one last goodbye and thanks for letting him stay on the ship, he walked away, Chirithy in tow, towards a less populated area of the island, armor shoulder pad and boots back on, ready to leave for home.

As he got ready to depart, his dream eater tapped his leg, making Ven stop in his tracks and look down at him.

"I'll be waiting for you back in your room," Chirithy said. "I don't really feel like going on your glider again. It's kind of scary." He put his paws together in front of himself, almost apologetic.

"That's alright." Ven knelt down and scratched under his spirit's chin affectionately. "I'll see you there later, then."

"Okay! Travel safe!" Chirithy jumped and disappeared in a cloud of sparkly smoke.

Without anything else left to do, he activated his armor, transformed his keyblade and flew away into the sky, leaving through a portal to the lanes between.

The green scenery and the earthly air of the Land of Departure were some things he hadn't realized he missed so much out at sea. It was as if the world softly whispered in its own mysterious language "welcome back".

As soon as he arrived on land and dismissed his armor he heard someone call out his name, that being his only warning before he was tackled into a tight hug.

"Hey, Aqua!" He chuckled as he hugged his friend back.

"You're back!" She said, pulling back to look at him, tears beginning to form in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" He frowned. "It's only been two weeks since you last saw me!" 

She nodded, sniffling. "I know, but it just felt like it was longer." She wiped her tears away before they could fall. "I really missed you."

He smiled softly, hugging her again. "I missed you too."

A hand ruffled his hair and he looked up at Terra.

"Welcome home." He offered a gentle greeting and a small, almost proud, smile.

Ven beamed.

"Come on inside!" Aqua urged him, pulling his hand and leading him towards the entrance of the castle. "Chirithy came earlier and told us you were coming so we prepared some food for you." 

"You should probably take a shower and get changed while we set up the table." Terra added, walking alongside them.

"Yeah, I'll definitely go do that." He nodded looking down at his ragged and dirty clothes.

They started going up the stairs. Had it always been so tiring? Maybe it was the fact that he had been on a ship for over a week and his legs were tired of having to keep him upright with the floor constantly swaying under him. Now that there was no extra movement of the stone he stood on the exhaustion had caught up to him.

The wind blew past him and he shivered. His clothes were made for a way warmer climate and didn't really keep the cold at bay. The weather was different here, the air much chillier than he had expected. He supposed it was to be expected in winter. 

It really wasn't long before they were at the top of the stairs, but his legs sure were protesting for a little bit of rest. Actually, his whole body wanted a break right now. But he could survive long enough to eat dinner before going to sleep for a very long time.

"Remember to leave your dirty clothes in a bag so I can wash them later." Terra said, gently pushing him on the back.

"You forgot to make your bed last time you were here before you went away, so I made it for you." Aqua told him and, when he looked up at her, she added. "Don't worry, I didn't touch anything else, everything is exactly where you left it."

"Thanks, guys." He smiled. "I'll be right back."

"Why do you still have this?"

Ven looked over at Chirithy who had taken out his box of treasured objects and now held a golden bracelet made up of crystals arranged together to form a sun in the center.

He peeled off his dirty shirt, letting it fall on the ground as he rummaged around his closet for some clean clothes.

"What do you mean?" He asked, taking out a pair of pants and a t-shirt.

"Didn't you buy it for Kairi?" The dream eater inquired, holding the trinket up to the light coming in through the window.

"I did," he affirmed.

"Then why haven't you given it to her?"

He stayed quiet. It was a good question, one he wasn't sure how to answer.

"I don't know." He said quietly, taking more clothes out of his drawer. "I just haven't found the right time to do it, I guess."

"I don't think there's a right time." Chirithy countered. "It's been sitting here collecting dust for months now."

He did have a point. Ven had bought the small trinket back in summer, thinking of giving it to Kairi the day they had started their breakdancing practice together, but had hesitated and kept it in his pocket.

"I mean, it'd be kind of strange to just go ahead and give it to her without explanation, don’t you think?"

"I think saying that you bought it because you thought she'd like it is a good enough explanation."

He frowned, fear creeping into his heart, whispering all the ways that a gesture that seemed so small and simple in hindsight could go horribly wrong. He shook his head and checked to see if he had all the clothes he needed. "She'll think it's weird."

"No, she won't." Chirithy tried to reassure him with a small, but firm voice."I know you're scared, but you're good friends with her and I know how much you want her to have it." 

Ven kept quiet. 

"She'll like it."

"No, I can't." He gathered all of his things and walked towards his door. "It's better this way."

"But, Ven—"

"Just drop it, alright?" He stared at his dream eater, before leaving his room and closing the door behind him.

The spirit looked down at the beautiful bracelet in his paws, the shiny surface reflecting the faint rays of the afternoon sun.

He stared at the door for a few minutes, then jumped in the air and disappeared in a poof of smoke.

"It's not just me, right? He's gotten taller."

"Yup, he's almost your height now. Still not as tall as me, though."

"Well, he _is_ seventeen already. Almost eighteen in a few months." She paused, only the sound of plates and cutlery being carefully placed on wood could be heard. "I can't believe how quickly time has passed…"

"And to think we're still here… still ourselves and safe and… free."

She looked up at him, his sight cast down and lost in thought. She placed the rest of the silverware down and took his hand, smiling when he finally looked at her.

They stayed in silence, a tranquil one, too peaceful for either of them to break, hand in hand, for a few minutes.

Terra opened his mouth to speak and finally lift the veil of silence, just as Ven burst through the door in a panic, his hair still dripping water, clothes disheveled. The quiet moment was broken as he asked if they had seen Chirithy around, words slurred by how quickly he tried to pronounce them.

They looked at each other confused and shook their heads. Ven cursed under his breath and Aqua was about to scold him for it, but he was gone in a flash, yelling for them to start eating without him, that he'd be back later.

Unsure of what had transpired, they stood there debating what to do next.

With Ven gone and the food already on the table, there wasn't much else to do than what he had suggested, so they sat down together, worried for the sudden departure of their dear friend, but trusting that he'd be back soon enough like he had promised.

His heartbeat was louder than the wind rushing by as he raced through the lanes between.

This had to be some kind of sick joke. Why would Chirithy go behind his back like this? His mind screamed in panic as he thought of all the ways this terrible situation would most likely end. He wondered if he could will his glider to go faster somehow, but knew even now he was pushing the speed to its limit.

The Destiny islands were in sight now. 

He needed a plan. Murder Chirithy? That was definitely one of the steps, but he'd do that once he assessed how big the damage was. Considering his luck though? He shook his head to rid his mind of all the possible worst case scenarios. He just hoped he wouldn't be too late.

The first place he had to look for him would be at her house. He made the mental math; it had been at least twenty minutes since Ven had left the little rascal alone, so it was in that window that he had disappeared. In that time he could've easily teleported over and done who knows what. 

He entered the world in a flash of blinding light and arrived at the beach, the sun setting behind him, being slowly engulfed by the waves of the ocean.

Before his mind could keep creating possible scenarios of what he'd say and do once he actually found Chirithy, his eyes caught sight of a red headed girl by the shore.

And a small cat-like creature jumping into her arms.

Ventus almost crashed on the sand a few paces away from them, caught off guard as he was, dismissing his glider and armor before he hit the ground. He almost tripped with all the momentum he was carrying, but managed to stay on his two feet, kicking some sand up in the process.

He felt like there was not enough air, like he needed to catch his breath even though he hadn't really run all the way over here. His wet hair fell over his eyes, water dripping down his face. He probably looked really weird right now, her expression sign enough to confirm it.

"Whatever he said don't believe him! He's just—!" He paused as the fading light of the sun made her wrist glint, guiding his eyes down to it, spotting the golden bracelet he had kept hidden for so long. 

He covered his face with his hands. What was he going to do now?! He couldn't just take it away and act like absolutely nothing happened! This was such a—!

"Are you okay?" His internal screaming was interrupted by a gentle voice. 

He peeked from in between his fingers. Kairi looked so concerned for him, her blue eyes looking up at him from way closer than she had been a minute ago.

"Do you want me to give you this back?" She said and offered her arm with the bracelet clasped around her wrist, holding on to Chirithy with her other arm. "I think there must have been some sort of misunderstanding."

"No, it's…" He sighed, shoulders slumped, the exhaustion of the day suddenly catching up to him. What could he even say? "It's for you…"

"Really? So Chirithy did say the truth?" She smiled almost playfully.

"I don't know what he said, I just know he says things out of context." He mumbled, hugging himself as the wind got colder. He looked away from her, his eyes fixed on the sliver of sun left.

He caught some soft grumbles coming from his dream eater, but couldn't decipher their meaning.

A small thought popped up in his head, his brow furrowing in confusion. If Chirithy had really said something that gave away his true intentions behind the gift, why hadn't she said anything? Had nothing really happened? Had she not figured it out on her own either? And if that was the case, why? Was she that oblivious or was he just actually good at hiding his feelings? Could it be—?

Chirithy's voice broke through his train of thought as he said, "Uh… nice to meet you?"

When Ven looked back the creature was gone, only a slowly dissipating cloud of sparkly dust left in his friend's arms.

"What? I can't believe that little—" He started, but stopped when he looked at her face. It wasn't just confusion he saw, but something more that he couldn't read quickly enough before it was gone. "What's wrong?"

"I'm—"

He sneezed. His eyes went wide, a little startled by how fast the cold had gotten to him. It probably wasn't the best idea to come out with his hair still dripping wet.

"Your hair is still damp." She reached a hand up to him, as if to make sure her statement was true and check for herself, but dropped it soon enough without really getting to touch it. "Come on, let's go to my house, you're gonna catch a cold out here."

"Alright." He nodded.

The walk to her house was strangely quiet. She didn't say a single thing on the way over. Sure, he hadn't said anything either, but his nerves wouldn't let him think of any smalltalk topics to fill the silence.

His thoughts were filled with questions he didn't dare ask outloud. He had the small suspicion that Chirithy had said something before leaving that could be the cause of her change of mood. A brief glance in her direction let him see that she looked to be just as lost in thought as he was.

Thankfully, the walk wasn't too long and they soon stood outside her front door. She looked around the street before summoning her keyblade to open, not bothering to take out the smaller key from her purse.

Kairi turned on the lights as they entered, the sun had already gone and the street lamps were not really useful to illuminate the inside.

She pointed to one of the armchairs in the living room before disappearing through a corridor. Having nothing better to do, and feeling awkward just standing there, he listened to her silent instruction and sat down.

He didn’t have much time to keep panicking in his head before she came back with a portable heater and a towel. She tossed him the latter before she crouched down to connect the heater to an outlet and turn it on. Once it was on she pushed it closer to him and went to the kitchen.

"Would you like anything? Tea, coffee, hot chocolate?" She asked.

"Um, chocolate maybe?" He answered while he unfolded the towel in his hands and started properly drying his hair.

After a couple minutes she was back with two cups in her hands. She offered one to him and sat on the armchair opposite to his.

He could feel her gaze on him, so he kept his head down, thankful for having the towel as a distraction and a way to hide his flushed face.

"Do you…" she started asking, but then hesitated. He looked up at her expectantly, the towel covering his head and falling around his face as a sort of makeshift hood. He probably looked kind of silly. Some butterflies fluttered in his stomach while he waited for her to continue, her silence making him more nervous by the second.

She looked down at the warm beverage she held. Taking a deep breath after another small eternity of silence, she raised her head and looked him in the eye. 

"Do you like me?"

His mind shut down, alarms of panic ringing in his head, every little imaginary Ventus in charge of keeping everything working properly was running around as the non existent control room in his head caught on fire.

He swallowed and looked to the side, unable to meet her eyes any longer, tilting his head and letting the towel fall beside him. "Why would you ask that? Of course I like you, you're my friend." What kind of answer even was that? Who was he trying to fool?

"I didn't mean it like that..."

Yeah, he knew that. He raised his warm cup to his lips. The chocolate was really good. He shot her a quick glance, but couldn’t maintain eye contact as he felt his face heat up even more. "Uh… no?" 

"Are you asking _me_?" She smiled amused.

"No?" He sank down in his seat. “I don’t—I mean, why would you think—did Chirithy?” he stammered, stumbling over his words. “Are you asking because of the bracelet? I just thought it was pretty like, uh, and that you’d like it, maybe...” he finished lamely.

She silently sipped from her cup while he kept on rambling despite his brain screaming at him to just _stop. Stop it! Enough! I’m dying here from secondhand embarrassment and I’m_ you! _This is a disaster!_

“Ven.” She interrupted him. He would’ve thanked her for that, but that would only make this uncomfortable situation even worse.

He looked up at her with his head tilted downwards while he played with his fingers. Looking away, his lips pressed into a thin line.

“I... may like you a tiny little bit.” He finally gave up and admitted, but then sighed and corrected himself, pressing a hand to his face. There was no point in trying to deny it anymore. “No, that’s a lie, I actually like you quite a lot.”

She looked down at her cup. She was weirded out, wasn’t she? Oh goodness, this was it. No more friendship, she probably would never want to see him again. Goodbye sending pictures and texting. Goodbye dancing together. Goodbye ever hearing her voice again! She’d never—!

"Since when?" she asked, taking him out of his silent panicked state. When she noticed his confused expression she clarified. "Have you liked me, I mean."

"Um…" He scratched behind his neck as he thought about it, trying to clear his head of all speculation and pessimistic thought. "Like, since last winter maybe?"

"Since last—" Her eyes widened, realization settling in. "You've liked me for a _year_?! And I didn't even notice?!" She stood up from her seat, but quickly sat back down, a hand on her forehead. "Gosh! What kind of friend am I?"

"I mean, in my defense I was trying to hide it! Give me some credit for doing a good job at least in one thing..." He crossed his arms over his chest, trying to smile to lighten the weird air around them. It didn't really work so he dropped the grin and set his arms beside him. "Please, I haven't done anything about it so far, I promise I won't do anything in the future either. I just want us to be friends, that's all.”

She looked up at him, her eyes studying his in silence. What was she looking for? He wasn’t sure, but he did his best to look as sincere as possible; he wasn’t lying, after all. His heart hammered in his chest, almost painfully.

"I still don't understand why…" She held her cup tightly between her hands.

"Why what?" His brow furrowed. "Why I want to be your friend?"

"No, why you would like me. There's so many people way better than me out there."

"But none of them are you," he murmured, though he wasn’t sure she heard him. She started tracing the edge of her cup with a finger.

"What's there even to like? I'm not that special..."

"What's there to like? Are you really going to make me say it all?" She didn't answer, so he took her silence as permission enough to proceed and started listing things. "For starters, you're really pretty, your eyes are beautiful, your laugh is the best thing I've ever heard. You're strong, not just physically, but you have a strong heart as well that's just so full of light, and you inspire me to stay strong too." 

He smiled to the ground as he continued.

"I love how carefree you look and how radiant your smile is whenever you dance. I'm amazed by how you can create something so beautiful out of just a few materials you pick up. It's always so fun to see your playful side when you're relaxed or get sassy in front of a challenge. And when—" He looked back up again, losing all his confidence in a second when he saw her face as red as he felt his. "Sorry, I'm making this more awkward…"

"No, it's alright, _I'm_ sorry." She shook her head. "I'm the one who asked in the first place..."

Silence settled between them after that. Her eyes looked lost, as if she was far away from here and only her body remained in this place. 

He couldn't bear to see her like that so he blurted out. "Can't you… maybe just forget about it? Can we pretend it's not a thing?"

She frowned. "Is that really a solution you'd be comfortable with?"

"I mean, I'm sure this will eventually go away," he told her the same lie he had been telling himself since the moment he had realized how he felt. "So if you ignore it for long enough it will not be a thing anymore at some point."

"You've kept those feelings for a year. Do you really think it'll be that simple?"

"Maybe it will be different this time…" he said softly.

With a sigh, she gulped down what was left of her drink. She rubbed her forehead, her eyes closed tightly. 

"I honestly don't know what to do with all this," she admitted. "Can you maybe give me some time to figure stuff out?"

"How long...?"

"I don't know, a week?" She put her cup down. "I'll call you then and we can… talk more about it, I guess…"

"Okay." He nodded and stood up, folding the damp towel he had used. A spark of hope glowed in his chest, but he pushed it down; he couldn't let himself dream too big right now, the reality would hit him too hard later otherwise. "Yeah… I…" he trailed off.

"Thanks for… the hot chocolate and all." He smiled, though there wasn't much energy behind it. "I need to get back home now."

She gave a curt nod and stood up to open the door for him.

Once he reached the threshold he turned around and bowed slightly. "Sorry for all the trouble. I hope you have a good night."

He started walking back towards the beach, using all his willpower to not turn around and see if she was still at the door as he continued down the street.

A cold wind blew by and, as he shivered and hugged himself, he wondered how he was going to get out of this mess, if there even was a way out.

"What happened?" Terra asked as Ven sprawled over the couch.

"I don't really wanna talk about it."

"You hungry?" Aqua asked, kneeling beside him and petting his head.

"Yeah…" he closed his eyes and rubbed a hand to his face.

"Okay." She looked over at Terra and nodded her head towards the kitchen. He understood and left to reheat the food.

"Are you okay?" She asked, concern evident in her tone.

"I want to be swallowed by the earth and disappear forever, never to return from the void I'd be trapped in, but other than that, I'm fine."

She hummed. "What do you say we do something to get your mind off of whatever is troubling you?"

"Like what?" He opened his eyes again.

"Playing command board perhaps?" She smiled at him.

"That does sound nice…"

"Okay, I'll go bring some blankets and see if Terra's doing well with your food."

Ven closed his eyes again. Maybe if he wished hard enough he could sleep and wake up in a reality where Chirithy didn't exist and he could keep suffering because of his crush in silence.

It had all been so embarrassing. He totally made a fool of himself in front of her. He probably made her feel so darn uncomfortable too.

Now that she knew she would never want to be near him again, he just knew it.

Grabbing his hair, he groaned in frustration. He was going to bathe Chirithy in ice cold water for an hour the next time he saw him! He sighed and let go of his hair. No, he probably wouldn’t do that. Maybe just throw a cold cup of water on his face; that seemed more reasonable.

“Here you go.” Terra’s voice broke him away from his revenge plans as he held a tray with a bowl of warm soup.

Ven sat up, took the tray and placed it on his legs. Taking the spoon he scooped up some food and ate it, immediately regretting it as he burned his tongue and almost spit everything out as he whined "Too hot! Too hot!"

Terra sighed. "Why do you always do this? Every single time." 

Ven fanned his tongue in a poor attempt to cool it down and take the pain away. 

Aqua came back with three fuzzy blankets and their command board. Sitting down beside Terra she set the game down in front of them and handed each of them one of the blankets.

"Ready to start?" She said as she wrapped herself on the warm fabric.

The game started casual enough accompanied by light conversation. At least that was the case for the first half, and then it started getting more aggressive and escalating into a full blown competition to win the final prize.

Surprisingly, Ventus won. Terra had come in last place and practically demanded for a second round. They went about this in a similar way and started out slow.

"So did you bring any souvenirs from your last trip?" Aqua asked Ven as she waited for Terra to finish his turn.

"Got some gold coins and a pirate captain's hat." Ven answered while he sorted through some of his commands.

"How did you get a hold of one?"

"Captain Jack took it from another ship's captain and gave it to me."

"So it was stolen?" Terra asked as he passed the dice to Aqua.

"Yeah, the gold too." Ven smiled sheepishly. "I mean, I was traveling with pirates, I really don't know what you expected."

"I hope you behaved well though." Aqua said as she leveled up one of her commands and finished her turn.

"Well…" he let the word stretch on.

"What did you do?" She used that one tone that always made him and Terra confess whatever shenanigans, pranks, or trouble they had gotten themselves into.

"Nothing really that bad? Just hit some of the enemy crew with some magic." 

"That's all?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, it's just… I think I went a bit overboard on them. Definitely scared some of them to death, that's for sure." He chuckled and then grew quiet for a moment, his eyes getting lost in the distance for just a second. 

"Ven?"

"But you know, what's really weird to me is how quickly I jumped into the fight, and quite literally too. It's been so long since I've sparred or fought against anyone that I think a part of me missed that.”

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know if I want to finish training, I really can't take all the responsibility that would come with being a Master." He finished his turn by paying up munny for falling on one of Terra's slots. "But I do miss the good side of fighting against an opponent, when you know they will stop if you ask so there's no real danger. I miss the fun we had when sparring together, trying to be strategic in defeating you guys… I don't know, everything was pretty great."

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, his spikes still not really back in their place. Passing the dice to Terra he finished explaining. "I think I'll be out traveling for a couple more weeks, but after that I want to come back and stay here for a while."

Aqua's face lit up with a smile at that. "You're coming back?"

"Yeah, real soon." He nodded once. "I promise."

Chirithy still wasn't back. 

_Would he ever be back?_ Ven wondered as he stared at his bedroom ceiling. He didn't really want to think about it too much. His tired mind was not one filled with positive thoughts.

He didn't need to think about his dream eater right now. He needed to prepare himself for the inevitable rejection that was most likely going to come his way and start entertaining the thought that Kairi would not be a part of his life anymore after this week to come was over.

Ven closed his eyes and slapped his cheeks a couple times. See the kind of stuff his tired brain immediately conjured up? That needed to stop. He'd just have to be patient and see what she had to say of the matter in the end. Who knows? Maybe she'd be kind enough to let him see her once a year instead of never!

He groaned. His mind was doing it again!

He turned in bed and threw his blankets over his head.

One week. He just had to wait for one week. He could survive that long… right?

**Author's Note:**

> :^)  
> Thanks for stopping by! If you enjoyed, please leave a comment! They help me know which parts people liked and which parts I intended to draw attention to worked. They help me get better, is what I'm saying... Also they just generally make me happy.
> 
> Hope you have a nice day!


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